Famous People From Australia

10 Famous Australians

1. Ned Kelly (1864-1880) – Loved by many Australians, Ned Kelly is one of the country’s most notoriously famous people. He made his name as a bushranger and acted somewhat as a political activist. He rose up against English oppression and in doing that, killed three policemen; whether or not this was wilful remains unclear to this day. He evaded capture for two years, despite a reward of AU$8,000 (the equivalent of a modern day AU$2 million!). In his final battle he rode into town wearing home-made armour. He was eventually captured and hung. His name lives on in history, folklore, art, film and music.

2. Don Bradman (1908-2001) – Widely acknowledged as the world’s best batsman of all-time. ‘The Don’ averaged 99.94 runs, a sporting statistic considered the best personal accomplishment in any major sport. He apparently became so good at cricket by hitting a golf ball against a wall with a cricket stump. Clever.

Check out this seriously old school video of Don in action.

3. Steve Irwin (1962-2006) – Also known as ‘The Crocodile Hunter’, Steve Irwin was an Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist. He was extremely passionate, loved handling crocodiles and had one of the thickest Aussie accents you will ever hear. He owned ‘Australia Zoo’ with his wife Terri, where he famously dangled his baby Bob over a crocodile. He was killed by a stingray on the Great Barrier Reef.

Here’s a video of Steve doing what he did best: getting far too close to man-eating crocs.

4. Rolf Harris (1930-) – A singer / songwriter, but not quite as popular or successful as Kylie. His best hit was ‘Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport’. He painted a little bit too, painting the Queen in 2005. Wonder what she thought of him.

5. Rupert Murdoch (1931-) – Owns the world. He started off with a newspaper in Adelaide but soon moved to America where he founded Fox Broadcasting Company. He is the founder, Chairman and CEO of ‘News Corporation’, a US media giant. In Forbes’s ‘World’s Most Powerful People’ he was listed 13th, and is worth a $6.3 billion.

6. Elle MacPherson (1964-) – Elle MacPherson is a supermodel, dabbles in acting, and is a damn good businesswoman. I mean, she has branded herself as ‘The Body’ so she must be doing something right. She has her own line of naughty underwear that we’re told are pretty good. We wouldn’t know. Honest.

7. Nicole Kidman (1967-) – Nicole Kidman first became famous by being married to Tom Cruise. They were one of the first modern-day celebrity couples. She was an actor before this, but he career seemed to shoot through the roof after she married Mr Cruise. Funny that.

8. Kylie Minogue (1968-) – Kylie does a little bit of everything; acting, singing, record producing, fashion designing, writing, and a little bit of business too. She initially started on ‘Neighbours’ but moved onwards and upwards with her award-winning role in ‘Street Fighter’. She then turned her hand to singing and found out that she was pretty good at it, with a career going into its fourth decade. She famously fought off breast cancer, and she still looks amazing.

9. Shane Warne (1969-) – Regarded as one of the best bowlers the game of cricket has ever seen. Warney took over 1,000 international wickets and he could hit a ball too. Warney is also well known for being ‘1,000 not out’, a reference to the number of women he has slept with… “Bowlingggg Shane!!!”

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